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16 Days to Coral Bay: Planning
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Xislandgirl
- Posts: 4163
- Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 4:03 pm
- Location: Slightly left of center
16 Days to Coral Bay: Planning
16 days until Coral Bay
Planning to have no plan.
Easier said than done. There are on island friends I only get to see once a year, travel friends that are on island at the same time, beaches and restaurants I must visit, music I want to hear, boat trips to take, etc.
How do you plan a trip with no plans? The answer from someone that is a planner for living? You don’t.
You make plans and hope that you will make them but set a realistic expectation that you may not make all of it happen.
The best part of the planning process is this time. The few weeks leading up to the trip where you check the forum and the Spicecam a dozen or more times a day. One of my favorite parts of this time is the Making of the Lists. It is a process that I have perfected. Mind you, these lists are made and promptly ignored. There are speadsheets on different computers, notes on the iphone that are never looked at, and chicken scratch on the back of a receipt when the thought of something I MUST have on vacation came to me as I was driving, or doing dishes, or getting my hair done.
The lists serve as a way for me to think I am in control of my vacation. I will be prepared for whatever comes my way; be it swarms of mosquitos, a sudden downpour, or the need for an extra watch battery.
On Day 1 to Coral Bay, I will not have a list because I will not have any idea where any of my lists are. I will throw stuff in a bag and hope for the best and I will not have an extra watch battery…as if I would need it?
Planning to have no plan.
Easier said than done. There are on island friends I only get to see once a year, travel friends that are on island at the same time, beaches and restaurants I must visit, music I want to hear, boat trips to take, etc.
How do you plan a trip with no plans? The answer from someone that is a planner for living? You don’t.
You make plans and hope that you will make them but set a realistic expectation that you may not make all of it happen.
The best part of the planning process is this time. The few weeks leading up to the trip where you check the forum and the Spicecam a dozen or more times a day. One of my favorite parts of this time is the Making of the Lists. It is a process that I have perfected. Mind you, these lists are made and promptly ignored. There are speadsheets on different computers, notes on the iphone that are never looked at, and chicken scratch on the back of a receipt when the thought of something I MUST have on vacation came to me as I was driving, or doing dishes, or getting my hair done.
The lists serve as a way for me to think I am in control of my vacation. I will be prepared for whatever comes my way; be it swarms of mosquitos, a sudden downpour, or the need for an extra watch battery.
On Day 1 to Coral Bay, I will not have a list because I will not have any idea where any of my lists are. I will throw stuff in a bag and hope for the best and I will not have an extra watch battery…as if I would need it?
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michigan girls
- Posts: 595
- Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2012 5:06 pm
- Location: West Michigan
I am heavy into the list making right now! Of course I am meticulously placing the notes into my laptop bag so I can find them on the last day.
Not that I suspect I will need them, I'm just a compulsive list maker and I must admit I enjoy them.
I am struggling not to make too many plans, and I don't have any friends (yet) on the island. I can only imagine what I would be like in your shoes. How exciting for you though!
Not that I suspect I will need them, I'm just a compulsive list maker and I must admit I enjoy them.
I am struggling not to make too many plans, and I don't have any friends (yet) on the island. I can only imagine what I would be like in your shoes. How exciting for you though!
Oh XIslandgirl we need to meet! Rachel tells me that you are in the Granby area and I am in New Hartford! I am ALWAYS looking for someone as crazy about STJ as I am for "girl's" trips since Hubby isn't quite as enamored. You sound like someone who could be my STJ buddy!!! I have one friend who is as crazy as myself so we'd had a threesome at minimum!!!!
Lindy
Lindy
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Xislandgirl
- Posts: 4163
- Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 4:03 pm
- Location: Slightly left of center
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nuendelcapecod
- Posts: 91
- Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2009 9:44 am
- Location: Cape Cod
I loved this post! I am a listmaker and a crosser-offer but this year I had to spend a week just before we left for SJ with my family due to a medical issue. Threw me off kilter. So I still don't know, after returning, what I did with the soap dish, q-tips and a few little tiny odds and ends but you know? They sell those things there!
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ColumbiaSCTraveler
- Posts: 528
- Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:33 pm
- Location: Columbia, SC
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Boston Mike
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- Joined: Sat Dec 27, 2008 5:41 am
- Location: Boston, MA.
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Xislandgirl
- Posts: 4163
- Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 4:03 pm
- Location: Slightly left of center
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Boston Mike
- Posts: 974
- Joined: Sat Dec 27, 2008 5:41 am
- Location: Boston, MA.
